Better roads, bigger parks and more trails have come to area cities since the creation of the local-option sales tax.

The six area cities have used the money throughout their communities to add numerous amenities. From 2003 through 2013, the half-cent sales tax has brought in $83.45 million to the St. Cloud area.

While $9.9 million of that has been spent on regional projects, the vast majority has been redistributed to the cities to use on their own projects. Money can only be used on roads, parks and trails and community buildings with regional significance. It cannot be used on operations.

The sales tax started in 2003, with the city of St. Cloud, Sartell, Sauk Rapids and St. Augusta participating. Waite Park and St. Joseph started participating in 2006.

It's set to expire in 2018. In November residents will be asked to extend the sales tax again for another 20 years, which is estimated to bring in $291 million in funding.

Cities have taken advantage of the additional revenue and have used it to partner with outside groups to bring amenities faster and at less cost to property tax payers.

"Our local sales tax has leveraged a significant amount of outside dollars," St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis said. "It's been a tremendous asset to leverage so much additional funding."

Buy Photo

Lake George(Photo: Kimm Anderson, kanderson@stcloudtimes.com)

Leveraging dollars

Area officials have a simple answer when asked if these projects would have happened without sales tax dollars: No.

"I can say that with that level of certainty," Sauk Rapids City Administrator Ross Olson said. "It allows us to do more projects with the limited funds that we have."

Cities have struggled in the last several years with tight budgets as Local Government Aid shrunk and development came to a stand still.

"It was hard to keep up with the fundamentals," Sartell City Administrator Mary Degiovanni said.

Kleis said if sales tax dollars weren't available, improvements would have to be paid with property taxes. And that would be unfair to property tax payers because the facilities are used by those who live outside the city, he said.

The city of St. Cloud receives the lion's share of sales tax dollars. From 2003 through 2013, the city has received $47.6 million. Money has been used in a number of ways, from the major renovation of Lake George and Eastman Park to Minnesota Highway 23 road improvements.

The city was able to partner with the St. Cloud Rotary to make improvements to Lake George. The city also made improvements with the splash pad, building renovation and plaza.

St. Cloud Rotary President Steve Joul said having matching funds from the city helps when asking area groups and individuals for donations.

"If they know their dollars are going to go farther, they are very interested and excited to see how those dollars are leveraged," he said.

Kleis said the partnership has become the standard for other organizations coming forward with ideas on how to improve amenities. Those include planned pickleball upgrades at Calvary Hill Park and talks about ballpark improvement at Whitney Park.

"It's about having the ability to get more bang for the buck," Kleis said about partnerships.

And while the recession impacted other areas of the budget, having sales tax dollars to spend meant the city could take advantage of low interest rates and low construction costs.

"The projects were well below what we anticipated," Kleis said.

Sartell has received $6.7 million in sales tax dollars in the past decade. It has paid for a number of projects including park land purchases and ball field improvements.

The most visible of projects was the Pinecone Central Park project. Land that was open fields and a golf course is being redeveloped into playing fields, a dog park and other uses. The city used $4.9 million to purchase land and make some improvements to the property.

"It just wouldn't have happened," Degiovanni said. "We just never would have bought that property. That land wouldn't have been there to make the dream happen."

The Pinecone Central Park Initiative has raised money to put in playing fields and other amenities. Gordy Meyer, one of the fundraisers, said there was no way the group could have raised enough money to buy the land and make the improvements.

"That was the genesis of whole project," Meyer said.

Map: Area sales tax projects

St. Cloud-area cities have collected sales tax dollars since 2003. While a portion of the dollars go to regional projects, a majority of the money is redistributed to the cities. Sales tax dollars can be spent on roads, parks, trails and community buildings with regional significance.

NOTE: The cities of St. Joseph, St. Augusta and Waite Park did not participate in sales tax until 2006.

Transportation goals

Olson, the Sauk Rapids city administrator, said state and federal dollars have become more competitive for transportation projects.

"We need a funding mechanism to improve infrastructure," he said.

From 2003 to 2013, Sauk Rapids received $6.9 million in sales tax dollars. The city spent much of that money downtown, improving Benton Drive and the surrounding area.

The city was able to piggyback on the Sauk Rapids Bridge project, which included street and sidewalk improvements. Olson said the city used sales tax dollars to upgrade those improvements to put in pavers and decorative lighting.

Those downtown improvements included season decorations that were purchased for $46,000. Olson said the city bought LED decorative lights to put up on street lights. While LED is more expensive, they last longer and are energy efficient.

Sauk Rapids has a sales tax committee that recommends to the City Council how to spend sales tax dollars.

In Waite Park, sales tax dollars have also helped with transportation projects. Those projects are so expensive that it would be difficult to do without the funding, Waite Park City Administrator Shaunna Johnson said.

"We're fortunate that we have a lot of commercial activity," she said. "The downside to that, is that when we need to do improvements... it gets to be incredibly expensive."

From 2006 through 2013, Waite Park received $9.03 million in sales tax dollars. The city did not participate in the local-option sales tax until 2006.

The biggest project the city did was construct 44th Avenue from Third Street North to Veterans Drive. Funding for that project came from Waite Park, St. Cloud, Sterans County and the state.

Johnson said the roadway provided another north/south roadway and helped alleviate traffic on Highway 15.

Looking ahead

Cities have started talking about how they would use the money if an extension was approved. In Sartell, Degiovanni said some of that conversation has started during talks about updating the Comprehensive Plan. One project that has been discussed is improving Pinecone Road and some of its intersections.

There is also money anticipated to be raised in the remaining years of the current sales tax. Degiovanni said the city still has plans for a community building and is in talks with Great River Regional Library System about putting a branch in Sartell. Sales tax dollars could help build such a facility.

Area cities will also likely hold public forums this summer to get resident feedback.

In Sauk Rapids, Olson said there will be conversations with the Benton County Fairgrounds organizers and Sports Arena East about what some of their needs might be in the future.

St. Cloud will look at its Capital Improvement Program when deciding how to spend any future sales tax dollars. That program outlines and prioritizes projects.

"The CIP sets up the blue print for what we're looking at in the future," Kleis said.

But it also allows movement in case circumstances change. The timing for the Minnesota Highway 15 and 33rd Street South project was moved up after state funding became available.

Johnson said Waite Park will look at additional improvements at River's Edge Park and possibly purchasing park land in the southern portion of the city. But more discussions will be had with residents to find out what they want, including hosting forums and getting out to neighborhood events.